Page:Material Culture of the Iglulik Eskimos.djvu/209

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196

two cords of plaited sinew-thread; the goggles are 12½ cm long. 3 cm high.

Five other snow-goggles belong to the same type; one, which is quite new, is of ivory, the remainder of wood; one is crude, 4 cm high, another only 2½ cm; one has the sinew-thread fastened directly to the wood without any intermediate piece of sealskin. Parry[1] and Boas[2] figure similar snow-goggles.

A specimen from a grave find (Miffet Inlet, see in Fig. 200) is of wood and differs in that over the snow-goggle there is an eyeshade; it is 11½ cm long, 7 cm wide, 3.3 cm high. An old specimen, found near Kingadjuaq, has a similar eye-shade, as has also the specimen from Anangiarssuk;[3] this is appearently an earlier feature, also found on a specimen collected by Hall at Fury and Hecla Strait.[4]

Fig. 154 b (Repulse Bay) is different, in that it consists of two oblong-oval, hollowed out pieces with slits, joined together with sinew-thread cord; the dimensions of each eye piece are about 61½ and 3 cm. A similar pair is figured by Boas.[5]

These old forms are now gradually disappearing and giving place to European goggles with coloured glasses.

Ornaments.

The Iglulik Eskimo women love decoration and ornaments; but before they had access to European metal, beads, etc. the possibilities were very limited; in this respect European culture has given rise to a rich development. The bead embroidery on clothing has already been referred to. Older women sometimes wear a brow band (qaorut), a band of sheet iron or brass, held in place by a strip of skin round the back of the head. One of these from the Iglulingmiut at Ponds Inlet is a band of brass, 12 cm long, 2.2 wide at the middle. 1.5 at the ends, with notches in one edge; a strip of seal skin is fastened to the ends and continues under the band, running round behind the head, where the ends are tied. A brow band of this kind is mentioned by Parry.[6] Ear-rings (siuterutit), in the form of short. hanging strings of beads, sometimes a single large glass or metal bead, are fastened in a hole in the lobe of the ear; only very few women wear these, however. Bracelets (taliaq) in the form of very thin bead bands, consisting of two or three rows of beads, on the wrist, are seen both on women and children, more rarely on men. Finger rings (nikilerarut) are extremely common among the women, but are also sometimes seen on men; they are oftenest of sheet iron and

  1. ↑ 1824, p. 584.
  2. ↑ 1901, fig. 159 a–c.
  3. ↑ Mathiassen 1927 I, Pl. 38. 11.
  4. ↑ Mason, Prim. Travel, fig. 17, p. 286.
  5. ↑ 1901, fig. 159 d.
  6. ↑ 1824, p. 428.
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